Listening: Dr. Lonnie Smith, Breathe
Take an organ, play it well, add Iggy Pop, begin moving your body to the music.
Dr. Lonnie Smith is an organist to whom I’ve come late in my love of jazz—like all jazz organ, I could not get into it and saw no reason anyone would want to listen to it, until the late virtuoso organist and multi-instrumentalist Joey DeFrancesco’s album More Music came out, and I saw the light. I had tickets to see DeFrancesco, but, tragically, he passed away too soon. His playing turned me on to jazz organ.
This is the first album I’ve heard Dr. Lonnie Smith play on, and it’s a live recording (except for the first and last tracks, which are studio recorded), and I love live jazz recordings. The audience presence is minimal, with some applause being audible after some pieces.
At Tidal: https://tidal.com/browse/album/177671861
At Spotify:
The simplicity of the hand drums in the introduction to track one, the studio-recorded “Why Can’t We Live Together,” is followed by a gradual introduction of the rest of the instruments, each playing sparsely, and then Smith hits some piercing notes in a kind of beautiful squeal, on the Hammond B-3 electric organ, and everybody takes the cue and jumps all in. Choosing Iggy Pop for vocals seems a wise move to me. Unfamiliar with Iggy Pop’s music, his voice comes to me fresh and without connotations of anything related to his oeuvre. It’s just a strong, mellow voice, calm in its questioning about human conflict and a desire for peaceful coexistence. Smith’s organ continues to star in the mix, with a squeal that is not so bright that it is painful to the ears or overly exciting, and Smith swaps the squeal with a more classic jazz organ tone, smooth, with complex harmonics in each note, and I can’t find the word to describe the envelope of attack, sustain and decay of the organ sound. This track is very calm, the drums generally tapping along, Jonathan Kreisberg’s guitar putting out a “fat”/bassy jazz tone, with clean, steady-pitched notes. The guitar’s comping during Pop’s vocals is quiet, minimal, and complements the comping of the organ without jumping all over it.
Before I am ready for it, the song fades out. It’s a simple song in its lyrical composition. Instrumentally, it allows everyone to introduce themselves, putting their best foot forward. The next track, “Bright Eyes,” features a trumpet and a trombone, so I love how these unexpected additions appear and surprise me. And then an alto saxophone comes in, soloing over the drums, organ, guitar, trumpet, and trombone. Perhaps it was playing in unison with the trumpet and trombone, from the start, but I didn’t hear it.
“Track 9” is a wild romp through breakbeat drums and syncopation. The brass is prominently featured, with the alto sax, trumpet, and trombone each taking a splendid solo. It’s reminiscent of Medeski, Martin and Wood, though with more instruments and more of a contemporary jazz feel to it than a jam-band feel. Following that is a down-tempo piece, “World Weeps.” Organ and guitar play a simple, slow melody together, while the drums play hi-hat and clean snare (no wires) rolls. It is dirge-like. The guitar solos in slow, long notes. I’m not sure, but I think the guitarist is using his fingers and the pick, both. There is a rousing middle to the piece, and then it returns to the slow, processional dirge quality, with Smith soloing on organ.
“Pilgrimage” is another slow, processional piece, a hopeful spiritual work. There are some bluesy fireworks from Kreisberg’s smoothly overdriven guitar, reminiscent of Phish’s Trey Anastasio in style and tone, and Smith plays his organ in the gospel idiom. Following “Pilgrimage” is a funky take on Thelonious Monk’s “Epistrophy,” with stemless-muted trumpet playing the head. This is another piece that reminds me of MMW, with Kreisberg’s wah-wah pedal in use, producing a distinctive jam-band sound, like John Medeski’s use of the organ on some pieces by MMW. Closing the album is a studio-recorded cover of the 1960s hit, “Sunshine Superman” by Donovan, with Iggy Pop performing vocals. The ensemble is reduced to guitar, organ, drums, and vocals, to end with a groovy jam rather than brassy fanfare. On the way out, Smith and Kreisberg have a bit of a conversation on organ and guitar, and the final note is played by the guitar, which I think is only fitting for a 60s rock and roll hit.